Cannot leave the references field empty OJS 3.5

lcmartinezru · February 28, 2026, 4:23pm

When trying to save the empty references field shows an error message “An unexpected error has occurred. Please reload the page and try again.”

OJS 3.5.0.3

rcgillis · March 1, 2026, 1:17pm

Hi @lcmartinezru,

Are you able to check your PHP error log? The console logs tend not to be as helpful in diagnosing these issues.

-Roger
PKP Team

kaitlin · March 2, 2026, 3:20pm

Hi @lcmartinezru and @rcgillis, it looks like you are running into this bug which was originally filed for OMP but applies to OJS as well - I’m hoping to get this fixed soon, but you can follow the issue as well to keep track of the progress.

lcmartinezru · March 2, 2026, 7:17pm

Thank you,

This is the PHP error log

[02-Mar-2026 15:15:48 America/Caracas] TypeError: PKP\citation\CitationDAO::importCitations(): Argument #2 ($rawCitationList) must be of type string, null given, called in /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/publication/DAO.php on line 484 and defined in /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/citation/CitationDAO.php:87
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/publication/DAO.php(484): PKP\citation\CitationDAO->importCitations()
#1 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/publication/DAO.php(229): PKP\publication\DAO->saveCitations()
#2 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/publication/Repository.php(427): PKP\publication\DAO->update()
#3 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/api/v1/submissions/PKPSubmissionController.php(1288): PKP\publication\Repository->edit()
#4 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/CallableDispatcher.php(40): PKP\API\v1\submissions\PKPSubmissionController->editPublication()
#5 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php(244): Illuminate\Routing\CallableDispatcher->dispatch()
#6 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php(215): Illuminate\Routing\Route->runCallable()
#7 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(808): Illuminate\Routing\Route->run()
#8 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(170): Illuminate\Routing\Router->{closure:Illuminate\Routing\Router::runRouteWithinStack():807}()
#9 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/HasRoles.php(75): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::prepareDestination():168}()
#10 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\HasRoles->handle()
#11 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/HasContext.php(35): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#12 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\HasContext->handle()
#13 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/HasUser.php(35): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#14 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\HasUser->handle()
#15 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(127): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#16 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(807): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->then()
#17 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(786): Illuminate\Routing\Router->runRouteWithinStack()
#18 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(750): Illuminate\Routing\Router->runRoute()
#19 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(739): Illuminate\Routing\Router->dispatchToRoute()
#20 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/handler/APIHandler.php(104): Illuminate\Routing\Router->dispatch()
#21 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(170): PKP\handler\APIHandler->{closure:PKP\handler\APIHandler::runRoutes():103}()
#22 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/PolicyAuthorizer.php(109): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::prepareDestination():168}()
#23 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\PolicyAuthorizer->handle()
#24 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/TransformsRequest.php(21): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#25 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/ConvertEmptyStringsToNull.php(31): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\TransformsRequest->handle()
#26 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ConvertEmptyStringsToNull->handle()
#27 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/TransformsRequest.php(21): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#28 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/TrimStrings.php(51): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\TransformsRequest->handle()
#29 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\TrimStrings->handle()
#30 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Http/Middleware/ValidatePostSize.php(27): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#31 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): Illuminate\Http\Middleware\ValidatePostSize->handle()
#32 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/ValidateCsrfToken.php(64): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#33 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\ValidateCsrfToken->handle()
#34 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/DecodeApiTokenWithValidation.php(76): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#35 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\DecodeApiTokenWithValidation->handle()
#36 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/SetupContextBasedOnRequestUrl.php(63): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#37 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\SetupContextBasedOnRequestUrl->handle()
#38 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/middleware/AllowCrossOrigin.php(34): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#39 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(209): PKP\middleware\AllowCrossOrigin->handle()
#40 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(127): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->{closure:{closure:Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline::carry():184}:185}()
#41 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/handler/APIHandler.php(103): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->then()
#42 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/core/APIRouter.php(116): PKP\handler\APIHandler->runRoutes()
#43 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/core/Dispatcher.php(157): PKP\core\APIRouter->route()
#44 /var/www/html/lib/pkp/classes/core/PKPApplication.php(429): PKP\core\Dispatcher->dispatch()
#45 /var/www/html/index.php(21): PKP\core\PKPApplication->execute()
#46 {main}